Posted
by
timothyon Sunday March 25, 2012 @01:40AM
from the they're-looking-for-tips dept.

hypnosec writes with the arguably welcome news that "[The U.S.] Congress is gathering further information on iOS developers and how they deal with and implement privacy policies. The Next Web got hold of a letter from Congress which had been sent out to Tapbots, along with some 32 other iOS developers, including both Twitter and Facebook, and the devs of Path, SoundCloud, Foodspotting and Turntable.fm. The apps were picked because they come under the social networking umbrella in the 'essentials' area of the App Store. The letter begins: 'We are writing to you because we want to better understand the information collection and use policies and practices of apps for Apple's mobile devices with a social element.' What follows is a series of eight questions designed to gather more details regarding the popularity of the app in question, and the privacy policy to which it holds (and how it's made known to users)."

If I got a letter like that, I'd tell the government that as long as they support the actions of groups like the TSA, they have no business at all asking anyone else about their privacy policies or trying legislate privacy rights. They probably won't like being told to pound sand, or having the truth thrown in their faces, but those assholes deserve it.

Nor are most planes. Does the TSA security theater actually make you safer? In which case, should it not be sufficient that Apple has a screening process to make you safe from privacy concerns? They are the TSA of the App Store.

Since no one has flown a plane into a building under their watch it's hard to say that they are ineffective, for all we know it's possible that they have stopped several such attempts. There are other reasons why TSA is a bit suboptimal. We can't prove that they make us safer, we can only disprove it once they don't.

Since no one has flown a plane into a building under their watch it's hard to say that they are ineffective

Correlation does not equal causation. For instance, do you know what else we've improved since then? Cockpit security. And we have increased civilian awareness about the dangers of successful plane hijackings.

Correlation does not equal causation. For instance, do you know what else we've improved since then? Cockpit security. And we have increased civilian awareness about the dangers of successful plane hijackings.

This! It's why we've not seen a repeat of planes being used as missiles. Prior to 9/11, in America when hijacked it seemed best to simply behave and hope to be released when the plane lands wherever it'll end up. On realising that terrorists are on suicide runs, passengers have become far more likely to risk tackling them, and the security of cockpit doors makes it far more difficult anyway to grab the controls. We need a proper and impartial study of TSA policy to separate the useful from the pointless. We

Insightfull?
If they had, they would gloat about it as they always do. Fact is, it is impossible to tell if it is the TSA - or a combination of them. DHS, non-govt, ACTUAL law enforcement, or the terrorists not targeting planes in that fashion anymore. It is easy, given their record however, to doubt the TSA playing a big role in it. Not to mention, you could look at all the time BEFORE the TSA, BEFORE 9-11 where we went without a 9-11, and look at your point, and go "so what?

Yeah, I definitely think the best course of action is to refuse to help somebody who is going to pass laws of importance to you, all but guaranteeing a suboptimal-at-best law. "YOU'RE NOT PERFECT, STOP TRYING TO BE BETTER!" is a fantastic rallying cry.

Actually, Windows Phone has permissioning much like Android. You need permission to access the internet, the camera, the address book, location services. It's really not as bad as you Anti-"M$" fanbois like to claim.

To what degree do developers of iOS applications have any obligation whatsoever to fill this form out and return it? What happens if you simply give them the same response given in
Arkell v. Pressdram [wikipedia.org]?

Doesn't really matter. You are supposed to follow the laws and regulations in all countries where your app can be used. That's why responsible developers restrict their app to only work in their own country.

They have no obligation at all; the letters [house.gov] are requests.
However... if they don't reply, the committee will likely assume the worst about their privacy practices. It's probably in the developers' collective best interests to convince Congress that some amount of self-regulation is occurring. (The last question is even "(9) Please list all industry self-regulatory organizations to which you belong.")

To what degree do developers of iOS applications have any obligation whatsoever to fill this form out and return it? What happens if you simply give them the same response given in Arkell v. Pressdram?

Its better not to piss off those who can write the legislation that can screw up your business or industry. Its better for them to view you as cooperative and reasonable. That way when legislation is proposed that affects your business or industry you can speak with them from a more favorable position. If you had previously been cooperative and reasonable then your opinion will have more weight. This doesn't guarantee things will ultimately go your way but the odds of a good outcome are better when starting

I have been idly itching to make a couple of versions of Business The Game. One would be in conjunction with Wizards of the Coast using MTG type play. Or Monopoly. You know, it's all the same themes, but they were so harmless on the first go around (the 1980's). By now they built the Hotel on Copyright Place, so each successive power grab at a bill is much nastier.

I can already see the sets - the 9-11 Security Theater set, the Copyright set, the Defend the Kiddies set, the Patent Lawsuit set, an

Where does it say in the constitution that congress is responsible for being a consumer or even privacy watchdog? Isn't that the responsibility of the FTC Bereau of Consumer Protection, CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), the newly created Department of Consumer Protection or the CPSC (Consumer Protection Safety Commission)? See below for links.. these are separate organizations of government.

I think the congressional hearings are far, far too used. I watch as ignorant senators call up Goldman Sa

Would all these criticisms disappear if the request had come from the Federal Trade Commission? Somehow I suspect that the government-hating contingent on Slashdot would make the same arguments about any requests by a Federal agency.

I don't trust app developers or anyone else whose profits derive from using my personal information. That's why I don't have accounts on Facebook or Twitter.